Rick Ross
Born, William Leonard Roberts II on January 28 1976 in Coahoma County in
Mississippi and raised in Carol City, Florida near Miami. Rick Ross is 1.83 M
tall and uses the nickname “Da Boss”
He is popularly called by his stage name, Rick Ross, a name he derived from
the drug trafficker “Freeway” Rick Ross to whom he has no connection.
William Leonard aka Rick Ross is an American rapper and the founder of Maybach
Music Group where he released his “Deeper than Rap” album in 2009 and “Teflon
Don” in 2010.
He started his music career under Sauve House Records and later was signed on
Slip-n-Slide Records under the Def Jam Umbrella in 2006. Ross was the first
artist signed to the Diddy’s management company Ciroc Entertainment.
His debut album, “Port of Miami” was released in August 2006, it sold 187,000
units after it’s first week of release. His second single was “Push it”,
during the release, Ross made guest performances on two singles from DJ
Khaled’s debut “Listennn” and “Holla at me”.
He released his second album, “Trilla” in March 2008. MTV News ranked Ross on
the fourth spot in it’s 2008 “Hottest MCs in The Game” list among ten rappers.
He released Teflon Don on July 6, 2010. The album debuted at #2 on the
Billboard 200 selling 176,000 copies in it’s first week.
William Leonard Roberts II went to Carol City Senior High School, after
graduating he went to Albany State University on a football scholarship.
Rick Ross released his latest album, “God forgives, I don’t” on July 31, 2012.
The album charted #8 on the UK Albums Chart and #2 on the UK R&B Albums
Chart, the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 218,000 copies
during it’s first week.
He was featured by Nigerian P-Square on their single track released in 2012
titled “Oyinye Remix”
Awards
Hottest MC in the Game by MTV BET Awards, 2012
Gold Certification for “Port of Miami” by Recording Industry Association of
America, Nov 8, 2006
Nominated Best Male Hip Hop Artist, 2011 by BET
Comments about Rick Ross
“Both physically and culturally very large …his voice sells, the way Sinatra
once sold an implacable but supple kind of confidence...Ross’s confidence can
transfer easily to anyone’s inner life, with a little suspended disbelief, and
that makes him a kind of motivational speaker. Feel as much like Ross as he
does, and you become your own boss.” – The New Yorker
“You can't listen to any station that plays hip-hop for an hour and not hear a
Rick Ross song... he is at the very pinnacle of street. He has started to
exhibit the signs of mainstream iconic status—appealing to the full spectrum
…Three of his last four albums have debuted at no. 1 on the charts. If his new
record, God Forgives, I Don't, doesn't follow suit, it will shock everyone in
the music industry who knows anything.” - GQ
“Believe it or not, it's been two years since Rick Ross's last solo album
Teflon Don hit stores. Since then, his stature in the game has grown
exponentially, with the growth of the Maybach Music Group brand, his epic Rich
Forever mix tape-arguably the best rap album of 2012 so far-and a handful of
stellar guest appearances. God Forgives, I don’t will likely determine Rick
Ross's place in hip-hop history. The smart money says that Rick Ross will
continue the growth curve he's exhibited with his first four releases-but
expectations are higher than ever. If this record does what it's supposed to
do, the Bawse will perfectly positioned to stake his claim as one of the
greatest whoever did it.” - Complex
News and Controversies
On June 18, 2010, “Freeway” Ricky Ross sued Rick Ross for using his name,
filing a copyright infringement lawsuit in a California Federal Court. Freeway
a reformed drug kingpin demanded 10 million dollars in the lawsuit. The
lawsuit was thrown out of court on July 3, 2010.
In January 2009, Ross started a feud with rapper 50 Cent because he supposedly
looked at him the wrong way at the BET Awards. 50 Cent later claimed not
noticing Ross was at the award. Later the same month, “Mafia Music” by Ross
leaked on the internet, the song dissed 50 Cent. 50 Cent later released
“Officer Ricky (Go ahead, Try me)”. He uploaded a video “Warning Shot”,
wherein he stated: “Rick Ross- I’mma fuck your life up for fun”. He backed it
up with series of “Officer Ricky” cartoons. He made video where he interviewed
Tia, the mother of one of Ross’s children. She verifies that Ross was a
correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent.
On his album “Deeper than Rap” Ross referenced 50 Cent in the song, “In Cold
Blood”. A video for the song was released that portrayed 50 Cent’s mock
funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended 50 Cent’s career. The
next day 50 Cent released the controversial video, “A Psychic Told Me” dissing
DJ Khaled. In an interview, 50 Cent said Ross is “Albert” from CB4. “You ever
seen the movie? He’s Albert,” he added. “It never gets worse than this. You
get a guy that was correctional officer come out and base his entire career on
writing material from a drug dealer’s perspective”
On March 26, 2011 Ross was arrested in Shreveport for possession of marijuana.
References
Rick Ross on Facebook- www.facebook.com/rickross/info
Wikipedia
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